MAD is Mad

US to Activate European Missile Shield


http://georgiatoday.ge/news/3754/US-to-Activate-European-Missile-Shield


"The project has been a decade in the making as Washington looked to develop a ballistic missile defense shield for its NATO allies in Europe. The system was originally intended for possible Iranian-made medium-range rockets, but Moscow saw the development of the system as a direct threat to the credibility of its nuclear deterrence."


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"Military analysts both in Russia and abroad believe Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strident opposition to the system is based on the Kremlin’s inability to reach a level of parity with NATO’s conventional ground forces, which continue to maintain a vastly superior edge in quality, supply and training over their Russian counterparts."


It is worth noting that it is believed that the Russians' real opposition to the shield is not merely a diminished ability to strike with TBM as part of a nuke-centered war, but more an issue of their forces not being able to soften the conventional battlefield to level up or exceed the conventional force balance. As such, Russia does not see nuclear bombardment as doomsday, but as a means to an end in regards to conventional war. It does NOT like having that strategy blunted, but will not admit to the strategy overtly.


This is not to say that the West doesn't see the utility of tactical nuclear strikes as part of an enhanced conventional campaign, because we certainly do see it that way. My point is that for all the talk of MAD doctrine in the popular consciousness, the world powers plan for something else. The civilian populations will be left out to dry, and private CD needs to ramp up immediately.